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Three more American bishops will be added to the roster of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), the Church of Rwanda announced on Sept 5; increasing the size of the Rwanda House of Bishops to 16: seven missionary American bishops and nine Rwandan diocesan bishops.

The House of Bishops of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda (PEER) on Sept 4 elected the Rev Terrell Glenn, the Rev Philip Jones and the Rev John Miller as missionary bishops to the United States under the jurisdiction of Rwandan Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini. Their election came the week after Uganda and Kenya consecrated three former Episcopal priests to serve as missionary bishops to the US.

The election of the three comes as a result of the “the significant growth of the missionary outreach initiated” by the Rwandan church in the United States, a statement released by the Church’s provincial secretary read.

Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini denied suggestions the consecrations were financially motivated. “We are an independent church and we don’t need any funding from America. Ours is not a begging church, it is a church that can stand on its own,” he told a Kigali newspaper last week.

Popular sentiment in the East African nation has supported the missionary outreach to the United States. Kigali’s English-language daily newspaper, The New Times, said the consecrations were a “a move in the right direction, if the country has to save so many of the souls that had crumbled due to the [Episcopal] Church’s recent scandal.”

“It is high time our Church leaders accepted to render a hand to the ‘friend in need’ before the seeming schism takes actual root between Africa and the West,” it said.
A former member of the standing committee of the Diocese of Central Florida, the Rev John Miller, III was rector of St John’s Episcopal Church in Melbourne, before seceding with a portion of his congregation to form Prince of Peace Anglican Church in 2004. The Rev Terrell L. Glenn, Jr., a one-time deputy to General Convention from South Carolina and former rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Mt Pleasant, has served as rector of the AMiA’s flagship congregation, All Saints, Pawleys Island, since 2005. The Rev Philip Jones has served as rector of St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Little Rock since 2005 after serving seven years as Dean of St Clement’s Episcopal pro-cathedral Church in El Paso, Texas.

The three former Episcopal priests will be consecrated on Jan 26 in Dallas, TX, during the AMiA’s annual winter conference.

Almost half of the Church of Rwanda’s bishops will be former priests of the American Episcopal Church by years end, the church announced today.

Three more American bishops will be added to the roster of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), the Church of Rwanda announced on Sept 5; increasing the size of the Rwanda House of Bishops to 16: seven missionary American bishops and nine Rwandan diocesan bishops.

The House of Bishops of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda (PEER) on Sept 4 elected the Rev. Terrell Glenn, the Rev. Philip Jones and the Rev. John Miller as missionary bishops to the United States under the jurisdiction of Rwandan Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini.

Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.

Comment at Thinking Anglicans.

The Diocese of Massachusetts has settled its lawsuit against the former rector and members of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Attleboro. On Aug. 1, the diocese discontinued litigation against the Rev. Lance Giuffrida and members of the vestry of All Saints’ Anglican Church, a parish of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), in consideration of payment of an undisclosed sum.

Both sides hailed the agreement. The Rev. Gregory A. Jacobs, diocesan staff officer for urban ministry development, said the settlement will help support the remnant of the parish that chose to remain in The Episcopal Church. The agreement “will allow the continuing congregation at All Saints’ Episcopal Church to grow their ministry as they continue to be a vital presence in the faith community of Attleboro,” he said.

Fr. Giuffrida also lauded the agreement, writing to his congregation on Aug. 4 that the agreement was fortuitous.

“In a shorter time than seemed possible, God has removed every obstacle from our paths,” he said, reporting both the settlement of litigation and the purchase of a redundant Methodist church for the AMiA congregation.

In September 2006, the congregation voted to withdraw from the Diocese of Massachusetts and affiliate with the Rwandan-backed AMiA. Following negotiations, the congregation turned over the property to the diocese in January.

However in late June, the diocese filed suit against the former rector and 18 vestry members, alleging they had diverted $196,863 from parish coffers to the newly formed AMiA congregation. The diocese also sought damages against Fr. Giuffrida, seeking repayment of a $10,000 home equity loan given by the parish to its rector and $7,600 in salary paid during the transition from The Episcopal Church to the AMiA. The leaders of the breakaway group denied the allegations.

Fr. Giuffrida told the Attleboro Sun Chronicle the agreement included a hold-harmless agreement binding both parties, repayment of a $10,000 home loan, and the return of some prayer books.

First published in The Living Church.

The Church of England’s breakaway congregation in the Algarve is contemplating joining the Anglican Mission in America [AMiA].

In an announcement posted on its parish website, All Saints Algarve in Almancil, Portugal stated that the executive officer of the AMiA, Canon Ellis Brust would be visiting the congregation June 16-17.

The parish reported that Rwandan Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini “has agreed to send his personal emissary” to the parish “to visit with us and talk to us about All Saints becoming part of the growing family of AMiA churches.”

Comprised of over 100 congregations in the US and Canada, the AMiA was formed in 2000.

Comment on this article at EpiscopalCafe.

Lord Carey’s letter to The Church of England Newspaper questioning the rationale used to exclude the Anglican Mission in America [AMiA] from the 2008 Lambeth Conference has elicited strong words of support from American conservatives, as well as dark mutterings from aides to Dr. Rowan Williams.

In a letter to the editor published on June 1, Lord Carey questioned the explanation given by Conference Secretary Canon Kenneth Kearon in excluding the AMiA from Lambeth. “My opposition to the consecration of two AMiA bishops related to the setting up of Episcopal activity in the United States which I regarded as unconstitutional and unnecessary” Lord Carey wrote.

However, this was before the actions of General Convention in 2003 when the “Episcopal Church clearly signaled its abandonment of Communion norms, in spite of the warning of the Primates.”

“Everything has changed in the Anglican Communion as a result of the consecration of Gene Robinson” Lord Carey noted. He urged Dr. Williams not to regard his 2000 statements as “necessarily binding on him in the very different circumstances of 2007.”

AMiA Bishop Chuck Murphy welcomed Lord Carey’s words of support. The former Archbishop of Canterbury’s words “reflect not only his awareness that this crisis has now reached the breaking point for the Communion, but also that, perhaps, his initial harsh criticisms of our work and ‘intervention’ in response to this global crisis may now need to be modified somewhat, or even withdrawn, in the light of the unfolding developments of the last seven years,” Bishop Murphy told the CEN.

There was a “growing international consensus” that the crisis of faith and order within the Anglican Communion had the potential to destroy it. The AMiA’s “outside strategy” in responding to the crisis “has proved to be a most creative and effective model for addressing” the breakdown of faith and order, he said.

The Ugandan and Nigerian warnings that they could not attend the conference in all good conscience if the Robinson consecrating bishops were present was not an idle threat, he noted. “The Global South is firm in its stand that they will no longer accept business as usual,” Bishop Murphy said.

Comment on this story at the AACBlog.

Robert G. Devlin, chancellor for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, will remain in that office while serving as executive officer for the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA).

The organization’s website describes AMiA as providing “a way for congregations and clergy to be fully Anglican…while, at the same time, being free of the crises of faith, leadership and mission in the Episcopal Church USA.”

Read it all in The Living Church.